As is known in the art, mobile railcar movers are used in rail yard switching operations and to shunt railcars around rail yards. Railcar movers are typically equipped with hydraulically-powered couplers on each end that lilt up on the attached railcars' couplers to transfer additional eight from the railcars to the railcar mover to increase the traction of the railcar mover.
As an example, if the railcar mover has a dead weight of 50.000 lbs., and transfers an additional 50,000 lbs. via the hydraulically-powered couplers on each end from attached loaded railcars (i.e. the railcar mover is “double-coupled”) the effective total weight of the railcar mover for purposes of traction is 150,000 lbs. This would typically create approximately 49,500 lb of tractive effort (150,000 lbs.×0.33 coefficient of friction).
A railcar mover, however, typically operates 90-95% of the time coupled to a single railcar. In other words, only one of the railcar mover's hydraulically-powered couplers is being used. This is because most plant switching applications cannot efficiently operate with railcar movers being double-coupled due to either space or safety concerns. Furthermore, in a railcar switching yard, when a railcar mover is double-coupled, a ground man is required at both distal ends of the joined railcars to safely move the cars. For a single railcar, this only allows 50% of the maximum traction available for the railcar mover.
A need exists for a device and method of using the device that addresses the above issues.